Monday, March 6, 2017

Redeemed

Last week, I went out on the porch to check the mail when I encountered a very tall package in front of the door. Although I wasn't expecting anything large or in that particular shape, it didn't surprise me. Packages are always coming to the house these days, not just for me, but now that the daughter is freewheeling with her own cash, well, I'm sure the postal person owns voodoo dolls in our likenesses.

When I saw it, I fully expected this package to be for me. But I looked at the label and it was for my wife. OK, fine. I didn't want anything tallish anyway.

But when my wife came home from work, she looked at the package on the table, pulled it down, scooted it over to me and said, "this is for you."

You could see the question marks fluttering over my head. It's nowhere near my birthday or Father's Day, Christmas was a while ago, and random gift-purchasing kind of went out in the late '80s, during that "buy each other giant heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies" phase of the relationship.

So, I slowly started to open it. A little bit warily, I admit.

But, first, let me show you the package box:

It kind of reminds you of "A Christmas Story," doesn't it? "Fra-jee-lay." The phrase was even uttered as I was opening the box.

But it was at that point, probably around the final syllable, when I spotted -- I kid you not -- a lamp shade.

"Holy crap," I said to myself.

"I'm getting a leg lamp."

I thought this was rather out of character for my wife, she has very specific tastes and "the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window" is not one of them. But, good for her, she's embracing the spontaneous side that I love about her.

Then, as I dug deeper, I realized it was not a leg lamp. No, it was something very similar, but much, much better. So much better on so many levels.

It was:

A Ron Cey-Fleetwood Mac lamp autographed by Ron Cey.

Let me repeat myself.

A Ron Cey-Fleetwood Mac lamp autographed by Ron Cey.

Damn.

I believe I'm going to have to marry my wife all over again.

I had discovered this lamp while reading the blogs, of course. I saw it on Dodgers Blue Heaven. Ernest had found on ebay this strange and wonderful item. Normally, I don't go for things like this -- I'm all about the cards, you know -- but the history behind this lamp is terrific.

The lamp was made specifically for the band Fleetwood Mac in 1982, the year their album "Mirage" came out. Fleetwood Mac is an L.A. band and its logo/mascot is a penguin. Ron Cey was an L.A. ballplayer whose nickname is "The Penguin." They both broke out in a big way at the same time in the mid-'70s and a friendship developed between the members of the band and Cey.

When Cey was outrageously traded to the Cubs, the band gave him this handmade lamp as a going-away gift.

Here is a little more about the lamp from the ebay listing:

Phenomenal, right?

So I read about the lamp and checked out the listing and had the same thoughts as Ernest: "funky little item, but too much money, I can't afford that."

I later mentioned it to my wife. Normally I don't bring up baseball collectible topics with her, unless it's related to something that might interest her, Allen & Ginter, that sort of thing.

But the pop culture aspect of it I knew would appeal to her, and she was a big Fleetwood Mac fan back in the day.

It was a couple-sentence conversation and that was that and it was never thought about again until that package arrived at my door.

"Holy crap," I thought to myself.

"My wife just bought me the Ron Cey-Fleetwood Mac lamp."

I don't have many items other than cards that are autographed by Cey (nor do I really want to), but you can imagine how much of a conversation piece something like this.

The Fleetwood Mac aspect kicks it up into a fantasy world. I ended up talking to a lot of famous athletes, plus my constant monitoring of baseball has humanized these players for me, even the ones I admired as a kid.

But rock stars from the '70s? That is ethereal stuff and takes me right back to those early teenage years when the greatest achievement in the world would be to attend a concert and somehow make a connection with these musical geniuses.

Wow, amazing gift; can't think of anything that says Night Owl more than that lamp! Hope you'll leave a pic of it somewhere in your header so your fans can see it every day when they click to the blog.